


In Delusion We Hide

by Scribewraith



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-06
Updated: 2007-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-15 18:15:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribewraith/pseuds/Scribewraith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season One. Peter is in a hospital. Pinch hit for Heroes Holiday ficathon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Delusion We Hide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toxictattoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxictattoo/gifts).



> A Pinch-hit for the Heroes Holiday ficathon. Dedicated to Toxictattoo.  
> Thank you to Minna for beta'ing and advice.

Peter wakes up and looks at the walls around him. White, unrelenting white. He had thought that maybe this was the dream, but the flashes between here and there are becoming more and more intermittent. Now there is more of the white, the voices from the doctors, the pills and his brother peering in through the frosted glass and wire. The flashes of a life where he is the most important, where the fate of the whole of New York rests on what he does or does not do, are fading like a dream.

He remembers fainting and that awful dream: vision. When he first came to he was in a hospital bed with his brother standing in the doorway, arms folded as if they could act as a shield from whatever was coming, whatever was here. He had reached out; Nathan had come over and held his hand, and Peter could feel how scared he was. He remembers watching Nathan pull himself together and promising him that he would work it out somehow. There had been voices outside the door and he could hear his name but he soon fell back to sleep.

The next time he woke up he was in the white room, and told that he had attacked his brother, that he was delusional. This is when the straps had appeared. He would scream and rant, twisting at the bindings, spitting out the pills that were slowly being forced into his throat. He remembers thinking that he should recognise the face of the dark-skinned man who restrains him, his nurse. That he should know who the man that his brother talks to is, that the horned-rimmed glasses and suit should trigger memories that would make sense of his situation. Now he just takes the pills and hopes that the dreams were he destroys the world don't come back.

The nurse comes in, like every other day, bringing him a tray of food, plastic utensils and food already cut into small pieces. He eats and then swallows the three pills lined up on the tray; one red, two green. The nurse, who never speaks, hands him a wet cloth and turns to give him privacy. Peter thinks this means that maybe he's getting better. It's the first time that the nurse hasn't taken the cloth and meticulously and dispassionately cleaned him. After dinner his brother visits. Peter is returned to his bed where he is strapped down; tighter than in the morning, as if they are more worried about what he might do in the evenings, with his brother there, than they are in all the hours when he is by himself, going mad with questions of what's real and what isn't.

Nathan enters the room, passing his scarf and jacket to someone who never enters the room and never walks past where Peter might be able to see them. The way he rubs his hand together returning warmth is the only suggestion to Peter that it might still be autumn or even winter outside. Nathan begins dissecting his day without any preamble, most of their visits are like this – leaving no chance for Peter to say anything. He begins with a run down of the family, their mother and Heidi, and continues with the details of the campaign. Peter's body shakes with his presence, it jitters and sometimes he feels like he might be flying. He used to think that it was something about Nathan, but now he just thinks it must be a reaction to one of the drugs. When he first came here he used to question Nathan about it but he learnt that it was the quickest way to make Nathan shut up and end their visits quickly. Nathan's visits are the only thing Peter has to look forward to.

Each night Nathan finishes with a kiss to Peter's forehead before whispering "It won't be much longer, just until the campaign is finished. A few more days, that's all."

One thing Peter is sure is true is that he and Nathan had argued, constantly, about how far Nathan would go to protect his election hopes. Peter has little illusion about what is more important, no matter how Nathan tries to sugar coat his choices as being the best thing for Peter and their family. Peter has no idea anymore about how long he's been here or even how long it is until November 8th. He used to think that Nathan meant that he would be out when the election was over, that he would be cured, but sometimes, when he thinks the dreams are more real than this, he thinks that maybe his brother is co-operating with someone to keep him hidden and out of harm's way. He's never sure that it's Nathan that he would be harming though, and sometimes he dreams of a burning man and a flash in the sky. He wakes up whimpering, and the nurse brings him another green pill to get him through the night. It's always so quiet around the nurse.

After Nathan leaves the Nurse comes in, as usual, and loosens the straps so that Peter can sleep more comfortably. This time the straps are undone completely, and Peter is allowed to stand up and shake his limbs. He says thank you to the nurse, not expecting to be left free, but when he turns back he's alone. Peter's not sure if this is a test so he crawls back on the bed and curls into a foetal position to sleep. The last time they left him unbound he had tried to escape, at least he thinks he did. That was when he still believed he had powers.

He wakes in the middle of the night to a hand over his mouth and another on his wrist, tugging him sideways. He's glad for the hand when he opens his eyes enough to focus and realise that the face looming over him is coming _through_ the wall. His screams would surely have brought all the staff running. The head whispers, "I'm DL, Hiro sent me," and then Peter is tugged, first off the bed and then through the wall. DL keeps pulling him as he stumbles on muscles atrophied by lack of exercise; he's a nurse and should have known that one day he'd need to be able to move quickly again. They walk through walls, pausing at the passages as DL pokes his head through to make sure that the way is clear. Once, DL holds his wrist and motions not to move. Peter ducks his head out and then back. There's a cleaner coming. It's in this moment that Peter begins to realise that it all might have been real. "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World," he whispers. DL motions for him to be quiet, and then for them to continue.

They reach the outside quicker than he would have thought; DL must have a map, or the complex is a lot smaller than he would have imagined from the way his brother talked about such a prestigious institute. They run across carparks, and then through a wired fence to a car waiting outside. In it two Asian men are sitting huddled ready to leap into action and drive away. One of them, whose face is familiar from his dreams, energetically waves his arms as Peter gets pulled into the car. "Peter Petrelli," he says, "Let's save the world."


End file.
